Due to its faulty recruitment process, national carrier Vietnam Airlines has allowed a Korean pilot to cheat it with fake qualifications, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

In its conclusion on the case of Kim Tea Hun announced Tuesday, CAAV said the 36-year-old pilot faked qualifications and certifications from the Indonesian-owned Batavia Airline, where he worked before transferring to VNA.

Kim, who came under suspicion after his failure to make a smooth landing in Busan in April, claimed to have A320/321 flight records and flown 680 hours with the Indonesian carrier's certifications.

However, Batavia's representative said in an e-mail to CAAV on November 15 that it has never issued any certification regarding Kim's flying hours.

Kim only attended an A320 simulator training session, and worked as a co-pilot on B737 for a total of nearly 200 flying hours, CAAV quoted the e-mail as saying, adding that he had never flown on an actual A320 aircraft, either.

According to CAAV, there were shortcomings in VNA's process of checking and estimating the qualifications of the pilot, who left VNA in August without notice.

The carrier's Committee on Quality, Safety and Security, moreover, didn't attend the process of checking foreign pilots' qualifications during recruitment, it said.

It also is "unsuitable" for VNA to recruit foreign pilots via one broker, CAAV said, adding that VNA's contracts with the broker don't include regulations on the latter's responsibilities.

CAAV inspectors asked the airline to review its procedures for licensing foreign pilots and checking their competence. The carrier also needs to less rely on one broker to recruit foreign pilots, inspectors said.

VNA was asked to submit reports on its actions to CAAV by February 15 next year.